It is finally here. After months of anticipation, Apple released it’s latest update of Mac OS X, El Capitan. Of course, even in the wake of mobile computing, the captain still has relevance. It also brings some slick looking tools and a few new tricks to the table. As the name suggests, it is not a new operating system, it is only a tweaking of the current one.
If you need a bit more explanation, the previous version of Mac OS X is called Yosemite, after the US national park. The name El Capitan refers to a rock formation within that park. In other words, this is Apple’s clever way of telling us that El Capitan rests on the shoulders of Yosemite. This update is free, and a good refinement of the current operating system without changing the experience of OS X.
The first noteworthy change is called Mission Control. This allows you to see everything open at the same time, so you may pick what you want to work on. Instead of tiling things behind each other, it gives you a bird’s eye view of everything, whether it is a web page or an app. El Capitan borrows a trick from iOS 9, with this next feature, Splitview.
Splitview is not entirely new. Windows users will recognize the style of being able to take two different items and have them occupy one half of the screen. This is a great tool for writing, gaming, or just monitoring things, without having to have 2 different screens. It is easy to swap places of the two items, or substitute out different items. If you need help finding some of these items, there is also the new version of Spotlight.
Since the launch of the 10.4 version, Spotlight has become an integral part of the OS X world, and it’s use in El Capitan is no exception. Spotlight is a better way of helping you find things, even if they are on the web instead of your computer. It is very intuitive and forgiving, so you would not need the exact name of what you were searching for.
There are definitely some other features that I have not mentioned, but you get the idea. Apple’s goal is to keep you within the ecosystem, whether it is iOS, or El Capitan. They certainly bring some nice features to the table with the new update of OS X. It is also nice to see Apple stop ignoring the people using desktops instead of giving them new features only as an afterthought. Privacy is a big deal for Apple, and a good way to protect your privacy on El Capitan, is by using a Mac VPN.